Pipeline fire: Bayelsa community threatens to shut down Agip’s operations

The Ayamasa community in Ekeremor Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, are threatening to shut down operations of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) following an explosion of a pipeline belonging to the company in the area.

It was gathered that the Ayamasa-Tuomo trunkline owned by Agip burst into flames spilling unquantifiable amount of oil into the environment.

Community stakeholders were said to have believed that the incident was caused by equipment failure.

It was learnt that the bubbling fire lasted for about three days, spreading to vegetation and destroying aquatic lives, before it was put out by the company.

Hundreds of women, youths and people of the community issued an ultimatum to the management of Agip following protest over the firm’s handling of the situation.

They accused the company of failing to comply with due process saying the firm’s contractors came to clamp the ruptured section of the pipeline without consulting other stakeholders.

The Central Zone’s leadership of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide confirmed the incident in Yenagoa and said the community youths were planning to disrupt the company’s operations in the area.

He said: “Ayamasa end of the Trunkline got exploded and the fire was on for two days before this terrible pipelines contractors put it off and left the community without a word.

“Up untill now the community has not heard from them and the community boys are now about to shut down the operations of that platform as I am speaking with you now”.

Porri said the community was angry that Agip and government agencies failed to visit the site to assess the damage done by the incident.

He insisted that obsolete equipment especially expired pipelines was the reason for facility failures and explosions in the Niger Delta region.

The chairman said the youths were worried about the age of oil pipelines criss-crossing the state adding that such equipment required immediate replacement.

According to him since the pipes were buried after the discovery of oil in commercial quantity at Oloibiri area of the state, they had not been changed.

He insisted that expiration was the cause of most of the pipeline explosions and equipment failures causing oil spills in the environment.

He said: “We have been appealing to oil companies to immediately begin the process of replacing pipelines buried in the region for many decades.

“Since oil was first discovered in Bayelsa, in Oloibiri, the pipelines that are criss crossing the entire central zone which they used in taking first oil from our environment have all expired. Even human life has an expiring date much less equipment made by humans.

“Most of the explosion, most of the things that happen in the environment are not caused by Ijaw youths. Ijaw youths are law-abiding, Ijaw youths are not fighters and we are hardworking.

“I want to make bold to say that all the multinational oil companies that are again operating in our zone should as a matter of urgency commence the process of replacing all the expired pipelines across the central zone because we will no longer tolerate corrosion and equipment failure”.

The IYC boss appealed to Agip to immediately move to the site, access the damage done by the incident to begin the process of remediation and compensation.